


Ain't No Sunshine

by marimoes



Category: One Piece
Genre: Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Healing, M/M, Memories of Minion Island, Post-Dressrosa, Tired Trafalgar D. Water Law, Very Tired
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-04 21:20:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25033075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marimoes/pseuds/marimoes
Summary: There is something more than discomfort in Law when he wakes the morning after they leave Dressrosa; pain being at the forefront of it all. It manifests as a steady burning that tears at his arm where the puckered skin rests, digging against his tattoo. His mind does the same to itself, digging relentlessly for an answer to the question that has weighed on him until sleep took him.How am I alive?
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Trafalgar D. Water Law
Comments: 9
Kudos: 149





	Ain't No Sunshine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [m_rosenkov](https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_rosenkov/gifts).



There is something more than discomfort in Law when he wakes the morning after they leave Dressrosa; pain being at the forefront of it all. It manifests as a steady burning that tears at his arm where the puckered skin rests, digging against his tattoo. His mind does the same to itself, digging relentlessly for an answer to the question that has weighed on him until sleep took him. 

_ How am I alive? _

He knows he won’t get the answer to that question easily, if ever, so he remains where he is. Scar tissue forming, brain digging, and against everything else, heart beating. The room is warm where he slept — tucked against pillows in the corner of the shrine built to the Strawhats — and he feels sleep start to lull him back again. 

In his mind he feels it as if it were yesterday. Feathers against skin—soft, yet scratching in the cold — tickling his face and arms. Though snow falls and melts against a matching white on his face, he can’t feel it. Everything is simply dark and numb in the world. For better, he knows when his hands drip with sweat, but still. 

He would like to feel something. Something  _ good _ before he dies… is that too much to ask?

Cora-san doesn’t think so. Rather, Law isn’t sure what Cora-san thinks at all when he runs out into the open against the black of night. No plan held in the clumsy man’s hands until they again wrap around Law’s body and tug him close against a bleeding chest. No explanation either as a fruit is forced into his mouth. 

Only a smile. It’s of reassurance, but also as Law would learn later, of hope. 

If he had that again, would it make things different? A proper smile placed on a face that loves him so much they would be willing to die for him — it feels impossible now. Yet as he opens his eyes, blinking sleep away from the edges, he sees it again. A beaming smile, full of reassurance and also of hope. 

It hangs beneath pinched eyes and a gold brimmed hat, no more than a foot from his face. 

“You’re awake,” the smile says, happy but soft, “I’m glad you could get some sleep.” 

Law rubs his eyes with his hand before pushing himself up further to sit. A mistake, he finds, as pain returns once more and causes his elbow to wobble beneath his weight. But the smile is there with hands that wrap around his joints and pull him up. It pulls further as well, teeth showing with no hesitation. 

“Mugiwara-ya,” Law groans, and a cough forces from his lungs. The room is dry for a ship, likely to preserve the papers and shrine. He’ll have to go outside to actually breathe, but to do that requires far more than assistance to sit up. 

A soft sound of recognition jumps from Luffy’s throat and he sinks to balance in a low squat. It leaves him to rock for a moment before he gets his bearings, but his attention doesn’t waver. It remains, unblinking before Law. 

“Want me to get you something? Rooster head has a lot of stuff for us. He’s gotten me everything I’ve wanted so far,” Luffy urges, eyes starting to wander around as he no doubt recounts the endless gifts he’s received on board. 

_ Water. _ The thought conjures, but it doesn’t leave Law’s mouth. Instead his lips smack at the ghost of the word and Luffy’s eyes widen. Today wasn’t going to be easy by any account—but Law didn’t think it would be  _ this _ hard. 

“I’ll get you something to drink, ok? Just sit here,” Luffy ushers with hands that float against Law’s skin with promise, “You need food too. I’ll get some and if you don’t want it I’ll eat it for you.” Again, the smile returns and again Law feels that same gnawing sensation. 

How many times did Cora tug him through a market looking for food? His smile wide when he would find onigiri made fresh, buying what he could carry before handing one to Law. The same care is held here. Genuine concern pushed against gums that gleam in low light. 

Law presses his lips together, not in a smile, but rather a tight line before sighing, “Thank you.” 

The slap of flip flops grows and falls as Luffy lurches to the door. He hears a yell from outside before the loud trampling of scrambled feet. Creaking of wood will never stop bothering Law, not so long as he lives. It sits in a sail barely hung against a pale moon in the middle of a vast ocean, and tugs at him like a frayed rope.

It is a small ship, lapped at by waves that threaten his life far more than the disease on his skin. 

There is only metal that can bring him comfort. Solid in it’s foundation and when it groans he can feel nothing. Numb in his own way that doesn’t make him desire to feel, blurred with the hum of a constant fan. It’s a comfort of years past, and he can’t wait to feel it again. 

A loud jarring of the door shakes the cabin as Luffy’s foot slams it open. It splits the top of the doorway along with the rest of Law’s head. A sensation that is dulled when Luffy sets water and plates at Law’s feet. They’re stacked with a mix of foods that blend into a scent that almost doesn’t form one at all. 

It’s simply food that is pulled away from porcelain and tucked into a smile. 

“They have all kinds of meats and fruits and stuff,” Luffy explains around bites and pushes a plate closer to Law, “No bread. Torao hates bread, so I ate all of it just in case.” 

A laugh threatens in Law’s chest, only to be extinguished by the breath it requires. He can do that later, perhaps. For now, he reaches for the water, and when the glass touches his lips he resists turning it back on himself entirely. It pours into him, cooling his chest, but his lips remain cracked and dry. A stark opposite to the ones before him that food continues to pass over. 

Luffy’s are much like himself: shiny. It’s not even the morning sun that makes him look the way he does now, though it likely isn’t helping. There is simply a glow about him at all times. A lining of his soul that must be made of fire, and in that Law finds peace. 

Fire used to be the very thing he feared and despised until it hung on something he loved. A sensation not unlike the one he feels now, and even then it’s different. Luffy’s flame is not physical, but it can still be extinguished. A fear that when he saw it happen wasn’t yet one, but in hindsight makes his stomach turn. 

“Need more?” 

Law draws his attention from where he zoned away to back to Luffy. His smile has fallen into somewhat of an O of question, with eyebrows drawn together like the curtains on the wall. A shake of a head isn’t answer enough it seems, because Luffy inches closer still, until his toes breach the edge of the blanket. 

His head falls to rest against his knees while he blindly grasps for food to his side. An apple slice wiggles between his fingers in front of Law’s face, and he grins. “Isn’t this supposed to keep you away? Maybe I should eat it instead.” 

At that, Law does laugh. Though it’s weak and to an untrained ear would sound more like a wheeze. Luffy is not untrained, not in the way that Law sometimes wishes he would be. He instead hears him laugh, and the smile blows wider until Law swears the corners reach his ears. It encompasses them both, warm and humming, before settling again. 

“I’ll take it,” Law murmurs and holds out his hand against his knee. When dropped into his palm, it feels cold. “Fresh?” 

Luffy shrugs, picking up another piece before dropping it alongside the other. 

“They have a pretty good kitchen — not as good as Sunny’s — but pretty good,” Luffy answers, eyes darting towards the window. 

Law can hear the grumble in Luffy’s chest around his ship's name. He feels about the same with the Tang, though he hasn’t been on it far longer than a day in Luffy’s case. Comfort is comfort, regardless. 

“You’ll be on it soon, Mugiwara-ya. As soon as we reach Zou, you’ll have her again,” Law replies, almost to himself instead, and tucks the apple in his mouth. He lets it rest against his lips for a moment, relishing in the additional moisture before pushing it between his teeth. 

“I know!” Luffy quips, head nestling further between his knees until they push against his ears. He grabs an orange slice and angles it into his mouth against his teeth before grinning. A giggle floats past it, muffled as the peel struggles to stay put. 

Law smiles in return. A weak one that trembles on the edges, but a smile. 

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the lovely lovely May. I'm so happy to be able to write for you again. It's always a treat, but especially when it's lawlu. 
> 
> Twitter: @__moes__  
> Tumblr: @noswordstyle


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